A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a device for notifying or indicating to a user the receipt of electronic mail messages and more particularly to a device which is a stand-alone device, or at least separate from a standard data processing device such as a computer, although it may be part of, or incorporated into other types of electronic devices used in the home or office, such as an answering machine, a telephone, a security system, or other electronic consumer devices.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic mail, or e-mail as it is colloquially called refers to messages that are exchanged by users using computers, mainly over the Internet. Typically in such a system both the sender and a receiver have an account with a company which provides access to the Internet, normally referred to us as Internet Service Provider, or ISP. The two parties may have the same ISP, or may have different ISPs. In either case, each party is assigned a unique address on the Internet for sending or receiving an e-mail communication. The transmitter transmits the message by e-mail using his computer or other similar data processing equipment. The ISP of the receiver stores this message in a particular dedicated memory device configured for this purpose, which location is usually referred to as mail box since normally only the designated receiver may gain access to it. When the receiver signs on with his ISP, (by establishing communication between his computer and his ISP), he can either check his mail box, or depending on the particular ISP, may actually be notified on his computer monitor, that he has a message. The user then access his mail box and downloads from the mail box the message. Once the message is downloaded, the receiver can save the message, print it, and in general do anything that he can normally do with any other digital file. The messages may include text, still and moving pictures, audio files, and so on.
E-mail has become so popular that many reports have indicated that it is the cause of major slow-downs of the Internet. AOL, one of the largest provider of e-mail and other Internet services has recently reported that it was handling over 18 million e-mail messages a day.
Some customers have continuous connections to the Internet so that they can check or get notified of an e-mail message automatically as their ISP has received and processed their e-mail message. However, most customers do not have a direct connection to the ISP and can sign on only through a standard communication channel such as telephone line, cable line or satellite connection. The process of turning on the computer, waiting for it to boot up, and then waiting for it to establish communication connection with the ISP is not only time consuming but also a waste of time if this was the only purpose for establishing communication with the ISP and realizing that there was not any message awaiting for the user. Beside the fact that this process is usually time consuming, it may not be successful if during certain times of the day when electronic traffic is very high. Moreover certain ISPs and connection companies charge a premium for the service and/or the communication channel during certain times of the day, such as, during regular business hours.